Union



N. D. CLARK.

PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.'22. 1911.

1,316,426. PatentedSept. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-$HEET Z L'd-Z W J Y Bi $11 uc ni'oz N. D. CLARK.

PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-22.1917.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

lm 4:14am I U ITED STATES PATENT .oF IoE.

N'ELS ON D. CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR TO UNION SPECIAL MACHIN'E COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PRESSER-FOOT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON D. CLARn a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presser-Feet for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is. a description, reference being had to the accompanyiing drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in presser feet for sewing machines, and more particularly to a presser foot used in connection with a two-needle machine for covering previously formed seams.

An object of the invention is to provide a relatively stationary means operating upon the fabric in advance of the needles and on opposite sides of the seam for stretching said fabric prior to the applying of the covering stitches.

In the drawings, which show b way of illustration one embodiment of t e invention,

my improved presser foot applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the work arm showing the feed dog and the looper;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in side elevation and foot;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the presser foot, showing in broken lines the position of the material as the stitches are applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a front view of the presser foot,

also showing the position of the needles and the materia Fig. 7 is a sectional view through joined fabric sections, showing the covering stitches applied thereto.

The invention is directed to a presser foot partly in section through the presser' Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Sept. 16, 1919. vApplication filed August 22, 1917. Serial No. 187,691.

, ing machine having two needles, which are disposed .so as to pass down through the fabric section adjacent the joined edges and on opposite sides thereof.

Cooperating with the two needles is a looper which lays a looper thread across the raw edges of the seam and covers the same. In covering a seam of this character, it is desirable that the sections offabric should be flattened as much as possible, and the present invention is directed to means which is normally stationary, so far as the feeding movements of the fabric are concerned, which means operates to stretch the fabric sections in ad- Vance of the needles and hold the sections Figure 1 1s a view of the forward end of v a sewing machine having stretched until the covering stitches have been applied thereto.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, 1 have shown my improved presser foot as applied to a sewing machine having a cylindrical work arm 1, an overhanging arm 2 in which a needle bar 3 reciprocates. The

needle bar carries two needles, 4 and 5.

Cooperating with the two needles beneath the work support is a looper 6. This looper is of the thread-carrying type and the looper enters both needle loops, so the looperthread will be concatenated with both needle thread loops and thus connect the two needle threads. The material is fedup the work arm by means of the feed dog7.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings, I have shown twofabric sections indicated at F and F, which have been united by a line of stitching s. The fabrics are superposed upon each otherand this line of stitching passed through. the superposed edges. After these edges are united, then the fabric sections are turned out into the position shown in Figs. 6 and 7 The present invention is directed particularly to means for stretching or pulling these two fabric sections, so as to flatten the joined edges as much as possible prior to the covering of the same.

The material is held on the work support by a presser foot 8 carried by a presser bar 9. The presser foot is formed with two needle openings 10 and 11 adapted to receive the needles 4 and 5 respectively. Said presser foot on its under face is also formed with a projecting keel 12. The fabric sections after they have been turned out as above described, are passed underneath the presser foot. The keel will run in the seam v or between the fabric sections where they are joined, so as to direct the previously formed seam between the two needles 4 and 5.

The presser foot is formed with an 0pening 13 and with a bridge portion 1 1, which spans the opening and is attached to the up er surface of the presser foot.

located in the opening 13 is a shoe or yielding member 15. Th1s shoe has a stem 16 extending up through the bridge portion. Said stem has an opening 17 in the upper end for a spring 18. The spring is attached to the presser footand is so arranged as to normally depress the stem and the shoe carried thereby until the spring strikes the upper surface of the bridge portion 14.

The under face of this shoe or yielding member 15 is formed with sets of ribs 19 and 20. The ribs 19 and 20 are oppositely inclined rearwardl and away from a center plane passing between the two needles. It will be noted that this yielding shoe is located between the needles and the keel and cooperates with the front end of the feed dog 7. The feed dog 7 has two spaced forwardly projecting parts 7 between which the shoe operates.v The adjacent side faces of the parts 7 are beveled off at 7 to prevent pinching the fabric between the stretching members and feed surfaces. Each rib is formed with its front face substantially vertical and its rear face inclined, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings As the material passes under the presser foot, this yielding shoe bears on the material. The ribs 19 will engage one section of the fabric, while the ribs 20 will engage the other section. Owing to the inclination of these ribs, as the material is fed under the foot by the feeding mechanism of the sewing machine it will be stretched or the sections drawn in a direction away from each other, thus flattering the previously formed seam. The stretched sections will pass under the foot, across the needle-holes in the presser foot without bei released, and the two needles will enter an cover the previously formed seam of the fabric sec-' except, of course, when the presser foot is raised to its extreme upper limit for the purpose of inserting the material underneath the same.

While I have describedthe invention as residing in a presserf foot having certain structure it will be understood that the auxiliary foot operating to stretch the fabric may be otherwise supported than by the presser foot. An essential feature of the invention consists in the inclined ribs extending in opposite directions from the central line and coiiperating with the feeding mechanism which moves the material across the ribs for stretching and flattening the same.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of parts may be made, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of a work support, feeding mechanism, a stitch forming mechanism, a presser foot, and devices carried by said foot and disposed directly above and cooperating with said feeding mechanism to stretch the fabric passing under said foot, said devices being disposed in advance of said stitch forming mechanism.

2. The combination of a work support, feeding mechanism, a presser foot having a guiding fin at its forward end, and devices carried b said foot and cooperating with said feeding mechanism to stretch the fab- I'lc passing under said foot, said devices being respectively disposed on opposite sides of a line coincident with the ma or axis of said fin.

3. The combination of a work support, feeding mechanism, a presser foot, and vertically yieldable devices, carried by said foot and disposed directly above and coiiperating with said feeding mechanism to stretch the fabricpassing under said foot.

4. The combination of a work support, a stitching mechanism including a pair of needles and a thread carrying looper' cooperating therewith, a feeding mechanism, a presser foot, and devices carried by said foot and disposed directly above and cooperating with said feeding mechanism to stretch the fabric passing under said foot, said devices being respectively disposed on opposite sides of a line passing centrally between said needles.

. having ribs formed thereon inclined rearaway from the center plane passing between the needles.

7. A presser foot including a foot'portion having two needle openings and an opening disposed in front of the needle openings, a yielding shoe mounted said opening in front of the needleopenings and wardly and away from a center plane passing between the needle openings.

8. A presser foot including a foot portion having two needle openings and an opening disposed in front of the needle openings, a yielding shoe mounted in said opening in front of the needle openings and having ribs formed thereon inclined rearwardly and away from a center plane passing between the needle openings, said presser foot having a keel located directly in front of said yielding member and disposed in said plane passing centrally between the needles. I.

9. A presser foot including a foot portion having two needle openings, and an opening in advance thereof, a bridge portion spanning said last named opening, a yielding shoe mounted in said last named opening, a

stem attached to said shoe and extending up through said bridge portion, a spring attached to the upper end of said stem and normally depressing the shoe and limiting the downward movement thereof, said shoe having ribs on its under face inclined rearwardly and away from a plane passing centrally between the needle openings.

10. A presser foot including a foot portion having two needle openings and an opening in advance thereof, a bridge portion spanning said last named opening, a yielding shoe mounted in said last named opening, a stem attached to said shoe and extending up through said bridge portion, a spring attached to the upper end of said stem and normally depressing the shoe and limiting the downward movement thereof, said shoe having ribs on its under face inclined rearwardly and away from a plane passing centrally between the needle openings, each rib having its forward face substantially vertical and its rearward face inclined.

11. A presser foot including a foot portion having two needle openings and an opening in advance thereof, a bridge portion spanning said last named opening,- a yielding shoe mounted in said last named opening, a stem attached to said shoe and extending up through said bridge portion, a spring attached to the upper end of said stem and normally depressing the shoe and limiting the downward movement thereof, said shoe having ribs on its under face inclined rearwardly and away from a plane passing cen trally between the needle openings, each rib having its forward face substantiall vertical and its rearward face incline said presser foot having a keel located in front of said shoe and in said plane passing between the needle openings.

12. The combination of a work support, feeding mechanism, a stitch forming mechanism, and a member engaging the fabric above the work support, said member having ribs arranged in advance of said stitch forming mechanism and so disposed as to stretch the fabric fed underneath the same by the feeding mechanism. 1

13. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, a feeding mechanism, a work support, .a presser foot, and opposed sets of diagonal ribs .at the front end of the presser foot cooperating with the feeding mechanism and to stretch the fabric prior to the stitching thereof.

14. The combination of stitch forming mechanism, a feeding mechanism, a work 100 support, and means for holding the fabric against the work support including a member having sets of ribs one on each side of a center line extending parallel to line of feed, said ribs being disposed so as to stretch 1 the fabric fed underneath the same by the feedin mechanism.

15. he combination of stitch forming mechanism, -'a feeding mechanism, a work support, a presser foot having a guiding fin 110 at its forward end, and a yielding member carried by the presser foot to engage the fabric in the rear of the guiding fin and in advance of the stitching mechanism, sai'd yielding member cooperating with the feed- 115 ing mechanism and having ribs disposed so as to stretch the fabric prior to the stitching of the same. 4

16. The combination of a stitch forming mechanism, a work support, a feeding mech- '1 anism including a feed dog having spaced fabric engaging surfaces, a presser foot, a member engaging the fabric between the spaced fabric engaging surfaces and having member engaging the fabric between the spaced fabric engaging surfaces and havin sets of ribs disposed so as to stretch the faric between said feed engaging surfaoes, said. feed dog having its adjacent faces alon ide of said feed engaging surfaces beve edi.

Lemme NELSON n. CLARK.

Witnesses:

LOUIS G. BOWMAN, S. GEORGE TATE. 

